Coccidiosis - Treatment and aftercare questions.

[Brizi]

My girl Clover has been acting iffy over the past few days. She's been lethargic and seems to have lost a bit of weight. Her poops looked to be normal at first, but then she started having watery poops. We took her to the vet today. She pooped on the table at the vet, and there was a red mucousy substance in it. The vet said it's likely that she has coccidiosis, and that the other girls may have it too. He gave us a dewormer for all of our girls, and he gave us an SMZ (antibiotic) + vitamin mixture for Clover to take over the next couple of weeks.

I was thinking that maybe I should also treat them with Corrid along with the vet's prescribed treatment, but I'm not sure if that'd be overkill. I'm also unsure about the aftercare. I planned of giving them a probiotic mixture after a week or two of treatment. Does that all sound right?

 

[nuthatched]

Your vet doesn't know much about chickens. It sounds like intestinal shed.
The dewormer and antibiotics or unnecessary unless and infection or evidence of parasites was found. Did he run a fecal test?

 

[Brizi]

Your vet doesn't know much about chickens. It sounds like intestinal shed.
The dewormer and antibiotics or unnecessary unless and infection or evidence of parasites was found. Did he run a fecal test?

Nope, no fecal test.

 

[Bertie-Merle]

Nope, no fecal test.

That's a concern. Do you have a vet program at a university or community college nearby who may be able to run one for you?

 

[Brizi]

That's a concern. Do you have a vet program at a university or community college nearby who may be able to run one for you?

About 1-2 hours away, I think so.

I did raise my eyebrows a bit when the vet said that "Her comb looks pale, it should be red." She's only 8-9 weeks old, and I told him that. Do you think it'd be worth it to try what he gave us, or do you think it'd do more harm than good?

 

[Bertie-Merle]

About 1-2 hours away, I think so.

I did raise my eyebrows a bit when the vet said that "Her comb looks pale, it should be red." She's only 8-9 weeks old, and I told him that. Do you think it'd be worth it to try what he gave us, or do you think it'd do more harm than good?

Do you have another vet who you could try ... like maybe one that works with livestock more? Or request that vet to run a fecal series, if not?

I'll defer to @nuthatched on whether to proceed with what was prescribed.

 

[Brizi]

Do you have another vet who you could try ... like maybe one that works with livestock more? Or request that vet to run a fecal series, if not?

I'll defer to @nuthatched on whether to proceed with what was prescribed.

The vet I went to is supposed to be a livestock vet. I could probably ask them to run a fecal test. There is a livestock vet that's further away that I could maybe try also.

 

[Bertie-Merle]

The vet I went to is supposed to be a livestock vet. I could probably ask them to run a fecal test. There is a livestock vet that's further away that I could maybe try also.

I'm just reluctant to use any antibiotics if not warranted and targeted for a specific condition, but I'm not a vet. The de-wormer would concern me less ... but I'll defer to those with more veterinary experience.

If it were me I'd definitely ask for a fecal test. You should be able to just drop the sample off. I hope things go well! ; -)

 

[nuthatched]

Do you have another vet who you could try ... like maybe one that works with livestock more? Or request that vet to run a fecal series, if not?

I'll defer to @nuthatched on whether to proceed with what was prescribed.

Eek, don't ask me. The whole thing just seems off.
I'd treat for Coccidosis, and try a vitamin regime after. There's an article on how to do a fecal float at home in the managing a healthy flock section of the articles, about 4-5 pages in.

 

[Bertie-Merle]

Oops, Sorry @nuthatched, and thanks for that info. Hopefully the hen will be okay for tonight and maybe the vet can clarify their instructions and run the fecal test tomorrow.